Winning is chief concern for Cowboys

Having spent a significant portion of his coaching career in the AFC West, Wade Phillips knows that playing at Arrowhead Stadium is never easy for visiting teams, especially ones that don't play there often.

Published 9:56 pm, Saturday, October 10, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Having spent a significant portion of his coaching career in the AFC West, Wade Phillips knows that playing at Arrowhead Stadium is never easy for visiting teams, especially ones that don't play there often.

"The crowd is great," Phillips said. "The Chiefs have a good feeling about playing at home. They've been conditioned to play well at home. The Air Force (jets) flying over, (the fans) singing the national anthem, changing the words at the end to 'Home of the Chiefs' instead of the brave. If you haven't been there, you don't know they're going to say that. They've changed our national anthem. It's something pretty different."

It's against that crazed sea-of-red backdrop that the Cowboys will try to bounce back at noon today from last week's excruciating 17-10 loss to Denver and avoid losing in consecutive weeks on the road for the first time since Oct. 12 (at Arizona) and Oct. 19 (at St. Louis) last season.

The Chiefs are 0-4 and have lost 27 of their past 29, but Dallas has little reason to be overconfident.

"Well we're 2-2, so we're not the prettiest bride in the church right now either," defensive end Marcus Spears said. "We have to play hard. In this league, anybody can beat you. We found that out last year in St. Louis."

The Cowboys were 4-2 last season when they traveled to face a 1-4 Rams team. St. Louis won 34-14, taking advantage of Tony Romo's absence because of a broken finger.

Romo enters this one healthy, but he was ineffective against the Broncos, committing two costly turnovers.

Since throwing for a career-high 353 yards and three touchdowns in the opener, Romo has been limited to an average of 212.3 passing yards with one TD and four interceptions. He's gone two straight games without a TD pass, a first in his four-year career as a starter.

He's also struggling to form chemistry with his receivers, a factor in the Cowboys scoring only two TDs in their last 22 possessions.

Dallas is the only team in the league that doesn't have a wide receiver who is first or second in receptions. Roy Williams, who is out with a rib injury, and Patrick Crayton are first among the team's wideouts with 11 catches each (tight end Jason Witten has 23 and running back Tashard Choice has 12).

"The numbers are horrible," Crayton said. "That's what you have to live with when you don't get opportunities. It's just frustrating."

If the Chiefs pull off the upset, Dallas will be 2-3 for the first time since 2004, when it finished 6-10. A loss would also ensure a miserable off week and give the Cowboys a tougher road to travel to the playoffs.

Dallas is two games back of the Giants in the NFC East and tied with Washington for last in the division. After their Oct. 18 off week, Dallas' remaining schedule includes a murderer's row of playoff contenders: Atlanta, Seattle, Philadelphia (twice), Green Bay, the Giants, San Diego and New Orleans.

"This one is as important as they come," Romo said. "We know that. I think we're going to leave it all on the field and do everything we can to win."